20 Degree Reduction In Oil Temps!

ResIpsa · 07-15-2014, 07:00 AM

I am sure that a lot of you guys are finding that even with an oil cooler you are still running really hot oil temps. During my first track day this season I was flirting with 250 degrees on a fairly cool day. To help alleviate the heat I vented my hood but still was seeing 260 degree temps on a slightly warmer day. And of course, running with oil temps at or above 260 degrees is not a good idea.

This was really starting to concern me as I am finally starting to run decent lap times and I know that as my lap times decrease my oil temps are only going to increase.

The following paragraph can be skipped by any of you experienced guys… Ok, to begin. Our cars are cooled by radiators. Yes, even the oil cooler is a radiator albeit with oil rather than water. And radiators depend heavily on direct air flow through them. Anyone with an oil cooler in a cold climate will attest that a piece of cardboard placed in front of your oil cooler will effectively eliminate its effectiveness.

Taking a look at how air flows through the nose of our cars reveals some real issues. First, a large part of our oil cooler is blocked by the crash bar and any hot air exiting through it goes directly into the radiator. Also, almost 50% of our radiator is completely blocked of any air at all. Initially, I thought of removing or modifying the crash bar but quickly realized this would leave nowhere to attach the tow hook and god forbid if I hit something head on…

I knew that I would need to increase the efficiency of my existing oil cooler. I only hoped that there was enough unused potential in it. I saw how Clintfocus at MotoIQ created a box around his oil cooler to prevent air from escaping around the oil cooler. However, I also know that Clintfocus has continued to have issues with high oil temps. In my highly untrained opinion, the box design may seal the oil cooler but still limits the amount of air available to it.

What I wanted to do is maximize the amount of available air flow directly into my oil cooler. I did this in two ways. First I fabricated aluminum baffles that would direct a larger volume of air into the oil cooler.

Second I sealed the top of the oil cooler with additional aluminum and high temp rtv sealant to prevent any air from escaping over the oil cooler.

It was at this point I realized that my oil cooler baffles blocked almost all direct airflow into my radiator. I thought “this can’t be good” and then I remembered seeing some pictures of the NISMO RC cars having circles cut out of the top of the nose. I removed the front fascia and took a look. It was apparent that if you remove the Styrofoam bumper protection you have clear and direct access to the unused part of our radiator.

So out came the Dremel tool and I gave my Z a set of nostrils.

I tested this setup at Summit Point last week and my oil temps never rose above 240!

clintfocus · 07-15-2014, 09:09 AM

Fyi, I'm the owner of the Moto iq 370. So the mods have been done by me not Mike

wstar · 07-15-2014, 11:04 AM

What are you doing with your air intake filters now? Your hoses look like Stillen G3 or similar-style, and the filters for that would be sitting right in the path of your new nostrils. Did you leave them there to get the fresh air to them as well, or relocate them to let more through to the radiator?

As another data point: I don't have any pics, but during my last oil cooler upgrade (to a Series-9 25-row; very wide but not tall so it doesn't waste rows behind the crash bar), I attached the bottom to the radiator shroud plastic as before, then also bolted a sheet of aluminum between the top of the cooler and the back of the crashbar as an upper mount both to baffle in the airflow and to add some stability under braking so it doesn't tear at the bottom mounts. I still don't have any side-baffles. I have a trans cooler on the other side that's Series-6, and there's only about a 2 inch gap between them for direct flow to the radiator in the middle. The rest is forced through the coolers or escapes inefficiently to the sides without side baffles. Even with hardly any direct airflow to the radiator, my water temps stayed about even while my oil/trans temps dropped pretty dramatically with this setup.

I'm tempted to cut nostrils like yours (whether for intake or radiator, either would be nice), and I still haven't vented my hood yet either, but it's on the list. What I really want to do with the hood venting is place it just above/behind the front of the engine to pull directly from where the stock coolant overflow tank is at, and then re-plumb/design my cooling system such that it has a single pressurized expansion tank at the rear of the engine bay (connected to the rear water outlet and the driver-side heater inlet), leaving that front area wide open for flow out the back of the radiator and up into the hood vent.

wstar · 07-15-2014, 11:07 AM

Oh nevermind about the air intake: I see the holes now in the bumper. I guess those are just airflow tubes and your filters are up in the engine bay near the stock location, maybe heat-isolated a bit?

ResIpsa · 07-15-2014, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clintfocus

Fyi, I'm the owner of the Moto iq 370. So the mods have been done by me not Mike

Done and done!

Also, thanks for all the great work you have done for our cars!

da mayor · 07-15-2014, 01:51 PM

nice!

martin82 · 07-15-2014, 01:54 PM

good job on cutting the bumper that is my next step as well

ResIpsa · 07-15-2014, 01:59 PM

I still have the stock airbox with K&N drop in filters. 2.5 inch brakes hose just happens to fit perfectly (with some persuasion) into the stock inlets. The ducts are essentially a cold air set-up with an unnecessary bend (I should have just mounted the ducts a couple inches higher on the nose and had a straight shot into the airbox).

I did the same on the top of my oil cooler and sealed it off. I played around with trying to fabricate some type of setup that would cleanly flow air exiting the radiator to my hood vents. However, there is so little space to work with I abandoned the idea.

clintfocus · 07-15-2014, 02:04 PM

I'm chopping my bumper similar next week

martin82 · 07-15-2014, 04:52 PM

here are the photoshop I made, ordered the aluminum pieces from ebay laser cut:

ResIpsa · 07-15-2014, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clintfocus

I'm chopping my bumper similar next week

Now with your massive oil cooler and triple pass radiator you should have your temp problems solved once and for all.

Although you still drive your Z on the street… May I suggest keeping a roll of Gorilla tape on hand to tape up your grill or you will never see temps above 150!

I actually had an issue at the track. Normally, I am fully warmed up after the pace lap. Last week I was shocked to see that my temps had not even cleared 180 after the first lap (I normally do not run the motor while gridding to give me extra time before I get fuel starvation).

ResIpsa · 07-15-2014, 05:32 PM

My vote would be for this configuration.

It flows nicely with the rest of the nose. But of course, form should always be < function (and both are equally as functional).

Sorry about that Stance Nation...

[/QUOTE]

phunk · 07-15-2014, 06:09 PM

great post. I have contemplated 100 times opening up my bumper there. I already have my crash beam removed and a giant intercooler in its place, blocking my entire radiator.

I could never decide between going all out like you have... or even just putting some oval shaped openings in the matte black area just above the factory radiator inlet.

Now that some of you other guys are leading the way maybe I will follow.

Rusty · 07-15-2014, 07:37 PM

Nice work.

Now I have another thing to keep me up at night thinking about it.

clintfocus · 07-15-2014, 08:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ResIpsa

Now with your massive oil cooler and triple pass radiator you should have your temp problems solved once and for all.

Although you still drive your Z on the street… May I suggest keeping a roll of Gorilla tape on hand to tape up your grill or you will never see temps above 150!

I actually had an issue at the track. Normally, I am fully warmed up after the pace lap. Last week I was shocked to see that my temps had not even cleared 180 after the first lap (I normally do not run the motor while gridding to give me extra time before I get fuel starvation).

the car still needs a tad more oil cooling, im going to experiment with the Setrab core that used to come with the AE performance oil cooler kit, then cut the bumper in the picture below that Martin Photoshopped for me so the upper rad gets air flow, the oil cooler core will get the whole bottom, the PS cooler will be behind one of the cut outs in the black section, and the side ducts will be for my AEM intakes to reduce IATs.

For DD, the triple doesnt over cool. ive logged temps during street driving. but also, i have a spare bumper i will be using for street use. the chopped up bumper will be my daily driver front end.

07-15-2014, 07:00 AM	#1 (permalink)
ResIpsa Track Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Virginia Posts: 564 Drives: 09 RACING HEN Rep Power: 338	20 Degree Reduction In Oil Temps! I am sure that a lot of you guys are finding that even with an oil cooler you are still running really hot oil temps. During my first track day this season I was flirting with 250 degrees on a fairly cool day. To help alleviate the heat I vented my hood but still was seeing 260 degree temps on a slightly warmer day. And of course, running with oil temps at or above 260 degrees is not a good idea. This was really starting to concern me as I am finally starting to run decent lap times and I know that as my lap times decrease my oil temps are only going to increase. The following paragraph can be skipped by any of you experienced guys… Ok, to begin. Our cars are cooled by radiators. Yes, even the oil cooler is a radiator albeit with oil rather than water. And radiators depend heavily on direct air flow through them. Anyone with an oil cooler in a cold climate will attest that a piece of cardboard placed in front of your oil cooler will effectively eliminate its effectiveness. Taking a look at how air flows through the nose of our cars reveals some real issues. First, a large part of our oil cooler is blocked by the crash bar and any hot air exiting through it goes directly into the radiator. Also, almost 50% of our radiator is completely blocked of any air at all. Initially, I thought of removing or modifying the crash bar but quickly realized this would leave nowhere to attach the tow hook and god forbid if I hit something head on… I knew that I would need to increase the efficiency of my existing oil cooler. I only hoped that there was enough unused potential in it. I saw how Clintfocus at MotoIQ created a box around his oil cooler to prevent air from escaping around the oil cooler. However, I also know that Clintfocus has continued to have issues with high oil temps. In my highly untrained opinion, the box design may seal the oil cooler but still limits the amount of air available to it. What I wanted to do is maximize the amount of available air flow directly into my oil cooler. I did this in two ways. First I fabricated aluminum baffles that would direct a larger volume of air into the oil cooler. Second I sealed the top of the oil cooler with additional aluminum and high temp rtv sealant to prevent any air from escaping over the oil cooler. It was at this point I realized that my oil cooler baffles blocked almost all direct airflow into my radiator. I thought “this can’t be good” and then I remembered seeing some pictures of the NISMO RC cars having circles cut out of the top of the nose. I removed the front fascia and took a look. It was apparent that if you remove the Styrofoam bumper protection you have clear and direct access to the unused part of our radiator. So out came the Dremel tool and I gave my Z a set of nostrils. I tested this setup at Summit Point last week and my oil temps never rose above 240! totopo, Slinky and pumpgas89 like this. __________________ The Reed Law Firm; Michael Fasano VA Attorney and Counselor at Law: A Virginia Traffic, Criminal, and Family Lawyer.https://reedlawva.com/ Last edited by ResIpsa; 07-15-2014 at 01:47 PM.

07-15-2014, 09:09 AM	#2 (permalink)
clintfocus Track Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: los angeles Age: 39 Posts: 933 Drives: 370z, EK Civic, F150 Rep Power: 15	Fyi, I'm the owner of the Moto iq 370. So the mods have been done by me not Mike totopo likes this.

07-15-2014, 11:04 AM	#3 (permalink)
wstar A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 4,024 Drives: too slow Rep Power: 3594	What are you doing with your air intake filters now? Your hoses look like Stillen G3 or similar-style, and the filters for that would be sitting right in the path of your new nostrils. Did you leave them there to get the fresh air to them as well, or relocate them to let more through to the radiator? As another data point: I don't have any pics, but during my last oil cooler upgrade (to a Series-9 25-row; very wide but not tall so it doesn't waste rows behind the crash bar), I attached the bottom to the radiator shroud plastic as before, then also bolted a sheet of aluminum between the top of the cooler and the back of the crashbar as an upper mount both to baffle in the airflow and to add some stability under braking so it doesn't tear at the bottom mounts. I still don't have any side-baffles. I have a trans cooler on the other side that's Series-6, and there's only about a 2 inch gap between them for direct flow to the radiator in the middle. The rest is forced through the coolers or escapes inefficiently to the sides without side baffles. Even with hardly any direct airflow to the radiator, my water temps stayed about even while my oil/trans temps dropped pretty dramatically with this setup. I'm tempted to cut nostrils like yours (whether for intake or radiator, either would be nice), and I still haven't vented my hood yet either, but it's on the list. What I really want to do with the hood venting is place it just above/behind the front of the engine to pull directly from where the stock coolant overflow tank is at, and then re-plumb/design my cooling system such that it has a single pressurized expansion tank at the rear of the engine bay (connected to the rear water outlet and the driver-side heater inlet), leaving that front area wide open for flow out the back of the radiator and up into the hood vent. __________________ 7AT Track Car! Journal thread / Car setup details Last edited by wstar; 07-15-2014 at 11:06 AM.

07-15-2014, 11:07 AM	#4 (permalink)
wstar A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 4,024 Drives: too slow Rep Power: 3594	Oh nevermind about the air intake: I see the holes now in the bumper. I guess those are just airflow tubes and your filters are up in the engine bay near the stock location, maybe heat-isolated a bit? __________________ 7AT Track Car! Journal thread / Car setup details

07-15-2014, 01:51 PM	#6 (permalink)
da mayor Enthusiast Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 313 Drives: #TheGoldenZ Rep Power: 16	nice! __________________ #TheGoldenZ [GTSPEC][RAVSPEC][AutoVisionNY][631Coatings vinylwrapped][Evo-R][SoFreshLifestyle][Intrack Tires][Project Mu][MXP][HempsteadAutoCollision][SNTRL]

07-15-2014, 01:54 PM	#7 (permalink)
martin82 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: los angeles Posts: 2,636 Drives: 12 Nissan 370Z MB M6 Rep Power: 20	good job on cutting the bumper that is my next step as well

07-15-2014, 01:59 PM	#8 (permalink)
ResIpsa Track Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Virginia Posts: 564 Drives: 09 RACING HEN Rep Power: 338	I still have the stock airbox with K&N drop in filters. 2.5 inch brakes hose just happens to fit perfectly (with some persuasion) into the stock inlets. The ducts are essentially a cold air set-up with an unnecessary bend (I should have just mounted the ducts a couple inches higher on the nose and had a straight shot into the airbox). I did the same on the top of my oil cooler and sealed it off. I played around with trying to fabricate some type of setup that would cleanly flow air exiting the radiator to my hood vents. However, there is so little space to work with I abandoned the idea. __________________ The Reed Law Firm; Michael Fasano VA Attorney and Counselor at Law: A Virginia Traffic, Criminal, and Family Lawyer.https://reedlawva.com/

07-15-2014, 02:04 PM	#9 (permalink)
clintfocus Track Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: los angeles Age: 39 Posts: 933 Drives: 370z, EK Civic, F150 Rep Power: 15	I'm chopping my bumper similar next week

07-15-2014, 04:52 PM	#10 (permalink)
martin82 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: los angeles Posts: 2,636 Drives: 12 Nissan 370Z MB M6 Rep Power: 20	here are the photoshop I made, ordered the aluminum pieces from ebay laser cut:

07-15-2014, 05:32 PM	#12 (permalink)
ResIpsa Track Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Virginia Posts: 564 Drives: 09 RACING HEN Rep Power: 338	My vote would be for this configuration. It flows nicely with the rest of the nose. But of course, form should always be < function (and both are equally as functional). Sorry about that Stance Nation... [/QUOTE] __________________ The Reed Law Firm; Michael Fasano VA Attorney and Counselor at Law: A Virginia Traffic, Criminal, and Family Lawyer.https://reedlawva.com/

07-15-2014, 06:09 PM	#13 (permalink)
phunk A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Chicago Posts: 3,668 Drives: 370 Rep Power: 974723	great post. I have contemplated 100 times opening up my bumper there. I already have my crash beam removed and a giant intercooler in its place, blocking my entire radiator. I could never decide between going all out like you have... or even just putting some oval shaped openings in the matte black area just above the factory radiator inlet. Now that some of you other guys are leading the way maybe I will follow. __________________ Charles @ CJ Motorsports : Website \| Facebook \| Instagram \| YouTube Home of the 9 second, stock longblock, stock drivetrain 6MT 370z. 9.91 @ 142mph

07-15-2014, 07:37 PM	#14 (permalink)
Rusty Ronin Samurai - Assassin Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Fayettenam,Pennsyltucky Age: 68 Posts: 35,217 Drives: 2011 Nismo GM 6M Rep Power: 2684438	Nice work. Now I have another thing to keep me up at night thinking about it. __________________ 浪人 - 殺し屋 "The Difficult Anytime, The Impossible By Appointment Only" http://www.the370z.com/members-370z-...o-journal.html

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